Vallejo and Bethel Goes Down to the Wire
If there is one thing that excites the city of Vallejo, California it is the Vallejo High School, and Jesse Bethel High School basketball rivalry. The first meeting between the two teams is usually the one that everyone in town looks forward to because it is expected to be a good and exciting game. However, in the past 5 years the first meetings between the two schools have not been close. The margin of victory has been 10 points or more each of the past 5 years in the first meeting. Last night’s game would be a change.
Both Vallejo and Bethel viewed the game as a must win not only because of the rivalry, but because where they are in the standings in their conference. Vallejo stood at 0-3 coming in after losing two games by 4 points or less, and Bethel came in at 1-2. The loser of the game would find themselves in last place in the conference, which would make it difficult to make a run at the playoffs.
The game would start off slow as the halftime score stood at 24-19, in which Bethel had the lead. However, the second half is where Vallejo High senior Anthony Thomas would go on a tear. Turn around fadeaways from the post, grabbing offensive rebounds and going back up to score, and running the lanes hard for easy layups. Despite Thomas’s effort in the second half, it was the excellent point guard play of Vallejo’s backup junior guard Jerik Garcia that helped Vallejo stay in the game. Bethel made their runs as well after Junior guard Jacob Sharp, and Senior guard Dion Moore knocked down a few mid-range jumpers.
After both teams traded buckets all throughout the 4th quarter, the game was tied at 54 with 40 seconds left. Vallejo senior guard George Binda drove baseline and shot a running floater that hit the front part of the rim. Thomas would grab the rebound and score the bucket to give Vallejo a two point lead with 20 seconds left. After Bethel called a timeout, Sharp took the game winning potential three that missed short. After a scuffle for the rebound, the time expired and the Vallejo fans stormed onto the court in celebration.
Vallejo moved to 11-10 overall and 1-3 in conference, while Bethel dropped to 7-14 overall and 1-3 in conference play. Vallejo will take on Benicia High School Friday night, while Bethel will take on powerhouse Vanden High School. This was a good game to see as it was long hard fought game that came down to the end. These two will face each other again on Friday, February, 9th at Jesse Bethel High School this time.